Walter j



(ModeL) 2 W. J. BRASSINGTON.

BLIND sLA FASTENER.

Patented Julyx14, 1885.

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SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 322,247, dated July 14. 1885. Application filed September 5, ISS-l. (Model.)

To 04% whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, WALTER J. BRASSING- TON, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Blind-Slat Fasteners; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of devices which are adapted to bear against theedge of one of the movable slats in aVenetian blind or shutter to confine the same when adjusted.

The object of my invention is to obtain, in connection with a simple device for preventing a loose movement of the slats, a complete lock for the slats when they are closed.

It consists of a piece of wire bent to adapt it for insertion between the frame of the blind and the slat, so that it will bear with a constant elastic pressure against the end of the slat when opened more or less, and in the combination, with said wire, of a pin projecting from the frame over the slat through an eye in the free end of the spring, and operating, when the slat is closed, to permit the spring to work out beyond the end of the slat over its front edge, and by stopping and supporting it in this position cause it to lock the slat.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of aportion of ablind, partly in section, illustrating my device attached thereto and in position to lock the slats, which are closed; Fig. 2, a similar front elevation showing.the slats opened and the spring in position to confine them 5 Fig. 3, a section in line 00 w of Fig. 2, affording a side elevation of the spring bearing against the end of the opened slat; and Fig. 4, a section in liney y of Fig. 1, affording a side elevation of the spring bearing against the front edge of the closed slat to lock it.

A represents one of the longitudinal side bars of the frame of a Venetian blind or shutter, and B B Bits movableslats pivoted thereto, and which are connected in the usual manner for simultaneous adjustment at different angles by means of a bar, (not shown in the drawings,) which is secured by staples to the edge of each slat.

Grepresentsmy retaining andlocking spring.

" This spring is formed of a piece of wire, bent at one end to form apin, c, Fig. 1, nearly at a right angle to the length of the spring, and which is adapted to be driven into the frame of the shutter as a means of securing the spring thereto. The body f of the wire is bent in a plane at a right angle to the length of the pin c,to assume the general form of a reversed letter 8, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, so that when the pin end 6 is driven into the inner face of the side bar of the blind the central or body portion of the wire shall ence in an outward curl or ring, h, by which its free end is readily manipulated. The an gle of the pin 0 of the spring (Jwith its body f is so far removed from a right angle as that when the pin is driven truly into the side bar, A, of the blind, the length or body f of the spring 0 shall automatically incline outward from the bar sufficiently to carry the upper free end of the spring out beyond the opening between the bar A and the end of the adjacent slat B and over the edge of said slat, as shown in Fig. 1. The movementof the springin this direction out over the edge of the slat is arrested by means of a pin or screw, K, (see Figs. 1 and 2,) which is passed through the eye 9 of the spring and driven into the barA in line parallel both with the edge of the slat and with the pin 6 of the spring, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The head of the pin or screw K arrests the movement of the spring out from the bar, and its body guides and supports the spring in its movement and retains it in close contact with the edge of the slat, preventing it from turning so long asthe end of thespring is in its outward position, as shownin Figs. 1

and 4. By pushing the spring inward toward the side bar, A, until it is in register with the opening between the endof the slat B and the side bar, the slat may be turned outward, whereupon the automatic outward pressure and frictional contact of the spring againstthe end of the slat (see Figs. 2 and 4) will prevent any loose play or movement of the slat.

The device, consisting as it does simply of an elastic bit of wire, properly bent to form a self-fastening spring, and'of a nail, pin, or screw adapted to guide and supportthe free end of the secured wire, may manifestly be supplied at a low cost, and is as efficient as it is economical. I am aware that it is not new to insert a spring between the sla-t and stile or frame of a shutter to so bear against the end of the slat as to hold it any desired angle of inclination, and that a spring-catch has been fastened to the frame to bear against the end of thelowest slat when it is opened,and to spring over itsedge when shut. My invention is an improvement upon the devices heretofore employed in that, by combining the free end of the spring with a fixed pin in manner as described, the spring is firmly supported when it engages the outer edge of the shutter to lock it, so that it may not be pushed back by force applied to the slats to free the same, but must needs be itself moved in order to unlock and set them free.

I claim as my invention In a device for locking the movable slats of a blind, the combination, with a spring fastened to the inner frame of the blind, so as to bear against the end of one of the slats when opened and to spring outwardly over its edge when closed, of a pin fixed to the frame above the upper edge of the closed slat in line parallel therewith to enter an eye in the free end of the spring, substantially in the manner and for thepurpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WVALTER J BRASSINGTON.

Witnesses:

A. B. MOORE, G. H. SPENCER. 

